The per-acre value of high-quality cropland
rose to $5,600 in 2013 from $5,000 in 2012, said Barry Ward, assistant
professor of production business management at Ohio State University Extension. That's up 39
percent from $4,020 in 2008, according to Cheryl Turner, director of the U.S. Agriculture
Department's National Agricultural Statistics Service field office in Reynoldsburg.

Farmers National Co., the Omaha, Neb., company that manages, appraises and sells farmland,
expects Ohio farmland to
stay the
same at $8,000 per acre in 2014, citing its own transactions. OSU's Ward also is cautious about
rising values this year.

"The key factors (in farmland values) -- crop profitability and interest rates -- both show
indications of 'unfriendly' moves in 2014,"
Ward said in his 2014 outlook. "Crop profits are projected to be lower
(possibly negative) and interest rates have moved higher since last year. Does this mean land
values will decline?"

The values may not decline, but "the projected numbers for 2014 point towards flat to lower
cropland values for 2014," Ward said.